History of Film and Visual Media (MA) - 2012/2013 entry

This programme will give you an up-to-date postgraduate orientation in film and visual media studies, within a progressive history of art and media environment. It places strong emphasis on the historical understanding of technology, institutions and culture, and on their theorisation and practice into the digital era.

Teaching and supervision are informed by current staff research interests, which include nineteenth-century ‘new media’ and their relationship to today’s digital media, many areas of cinema and television history, as well as contemporary artists’ moving image work.

The programme will give you a solid foundation for further research, for a career in teaching or arts administration, as well as for many kinds of arts and media practice that require advanced research skills and a broad knowledge of history and theory.

Find out more about why you should choose Birkbeck and about studying with us.  

• Taught by globally renowned film and media academics.
• Ideal if you have already studied film and/or visual media at undergraduate level or would like to enter the field from another academic or professional area.
• Choice of either a work placement within a media company or institution, or a research report.
• Guest speakers, including leading film- and television-makers, critics and media managers.
• Gain British Film Institute Library membership.

The programme consists of a combination of a core module, a choice of option modules, a research project or placement, and a dissertation. Subjects covered on the core module include early photography, pre-cinema media, early cinema, sound recording, early television and digital media.

The core provision of study is designed to introduce you to the basic methodologies and issues involved in the area concerned, as well as research skills and methods.

Option modules allow you to pursue specific interests and areas of research. These may include:

• Avant-Garde Film, Video and Beyond 
• British Film and Television 1960–1985
• Contemporary US Cinema
• Film Festivals 
• Image and Sound 
• Post-War European Cinema at the Crossroads.

A unique feature of the programme is the placement, which offers you the experience of working within a prominent media company or institution. Alternatively, the research project gives you the chance to undertake independent research and reflect on research methodologies.

You will complete the programme with a 15,000-word dissertation.

The Film Department is based in the purpose-built Centre for Film and Visual Media Research in Gordon Square, housing projects that follow on from the AHRC Centre which Birkbeck co-ordinated in 2000–2005, and offering exceptional screening and reference facilities.

In addition to the Birkbeck Library, you will have easy access to the nearby University of London Library, the British Film Institute and the British Library, as well as other specialist collections and institutions in central London. You will be encouraged to attend other lectures and screenings of interest.

We attract a rich programme of visiting scholars and practitioners. There is a self-access centre for audio-visual materials and we have well-equipped computer facilities, including a multimedia laboratory.

Find out more about our world-class research resources, as well as our specialist resources.

If you are interested in further research, we offer a PhD/MPhil in Film/Television/Media Studies.

Graduates go on to careers in film and television companies, in museums and galleries, in arts administration and in teaching.

• Early application recommended, but later applications also considered.
• Interviews March–September.